Public Thesis defense - LIDAM

Hybrid approaches for life insurance and pension schemes in an uncertain environment by Vanessa HANNA

Pour l’obtention du grade académique de Doctorat en sciences

The main purpose of this thesis is to answer the global question of how to design and evaluate financially and actuarially life insurance products as well as occupational pension schemes in an uncertain financial and demographic landscape. The life insurance industry confronts a significant challenge: reconciling the policyholder's need for certain guarantees on one side and the insurer's endeavor to sustain enduring guarantees on the other. Likewise, pension schemes witness a divergence of interests between employers aiming to reduce supplementary costs associated with commitments toward workers, who in turn seek a minimum target retirement benefit. Amidst this struggle between the desire for guarantees and the appeal of higher returns, a need for compromise has arisen. Mixed or hybrid products in life insurance and pension schemes have then emerged as a popular option that represents a dynamic approach to closing the gap between guarantee-oriented and return-focused insurance offerings, enhancing the industry's capacity to meet evolving customer needs and regulatory expectations. Furthermore, these hybrid solutions provide a means to harmonize retirement benefits and cost management within pension plans, satisfying the distinctive preferences of employers and workers. Our research is a sort of generalization and adaptation of structured products to the world of life insurance and pension schemes, concentrating on risk-sharing offerings. We intend to merge not assets, as commonly understood in finance, but liabilities, which relate to our domain of life insurance and pension schemes. In life insurance, we realize a risk-sharing relationship between insurers and policyholders by allowing insurers to provide attractive guarantees and offering policyholders security and the potential for higher returns. Additionally, in pension schemes, we realize a risk-sharing relationship between employers and workers by managing the costs of the employer and securing a financially stable retirement for the worker.

Jury members : 

• Prof. Pierre Devolder (UCLouvain), supervisor
• Prof. Christian Hafner (UCLouvain), chairperson
• Prof. Donatien Hainaut (UCLouvain), secretary
• Prof. Pierre Ars (UCLouvain)
• Prof. Anna Rita Bacinello (Università degli Studi di Trieste)
• Prof. Peter Hieber (Université de Lausanne)

Pay attention :

The public defense of Vanessa Hanna scheduled for Friday 08 December at 04:00 p.m will also take place in the form of a video conference

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